Powerful short film launched to celebrate Young Carers Action Day 2022

23 March 2022

As part of the Young Carers Action Day which, was held on 16 March 2022, a short film was launched between Ceredigion young people and Arad Goch Theatre Company to celebrate young carer’s work.

Carers Trust UK defines a Young Carer as “someone aged 25 and under who cares for a friend or family member who, due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction, cannot cope without their support.” Social Care Wales suggest that there are over 30,000 Unpaid Carers under the age of 25 in Wales, and that 16% of Secondary School Pupils in Wales have caring responsibilities. Being a Young Carer can include responsibilities such as practical tasks like cooking, cleaning and shopping, personal care like helping someone get out of bed, collecting medication or looking after brothers or sisters.

During the summer of 2021, a group of Young Carers from Ceredigion embarked on a new project in partnership with Arad Goch. Ceredigion Youth Service, Ceredigion’s Carers Unit and Action for Children teamed up with Arad Goch to create a short, youth-led film in a bid to educate and raise awareness of what it means to be a Young Carer.

The young people worked with Arad Goch to create a story and script, and filmed scenes in and around Aberystwyth, before editing the footage to create a short film, titled ‘This is me’ which was launched on Young Carers Action Day 2022.  

The film was produced by young people under the guidance of local theatre company, Arad Goch. The project was also supported by local drama students, who took part in the production as young actors. The film follows the journey of a young person who has caring responsibilities, with the aim of educating and raising awareness of the topic.

The short film is available to watch here: https://aradgoch.cymru/this-is-me-launch/?lang=en

Tiffany Davies, Youth Support Worker said, “The young people worked incredibly hard to produce a powerful short film, from start to finish. Their creation illustrated some of what a Young Carer does from day to day, through film. We hope that the short film can be used as an educational resource in schools and youth clubs, so that we can all understand what it means to be a Young Carer. They should all be very proud of their achievement. We would like to thank Arad Goch once again for another fantastic opportunity which enabled the young people to learn new skills and experiences such as photography and production.”

Carwyn Blayney, Director of the Film on behalf of Arad Goch, said, “The project was very ambitious, especially trying to film so much material in one day, but all the Young Carers, and the young actors involved in the project were absolutely brilliant. We had a great day filming – a full day, with all the young people dealing with the workload brilliantly. The Young Carers were very good at sharing ideas on our teams meetings in the months leading up to the filming day, and very patient as we tried to organise a project in the midst of a pandemic. A really talented bunch of young people!”

To learn more about the support available to Young Carers in Ceredigion, visit; https://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/resident/social-care-wellbeing/support-for-carers/young-carers/.

For more information about the work of Ceredigion Youth Service, visit their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram page @GICeredigionYS or visit their website at www.giceredigionys.co.uk.

For more information about the work of Cwmni Theatr Arad Goch, visit their website https://aradgoch.cymru/?lang=en. For enquiries about use of the film in other settings, please contact Arad Goch on 01970 617998 or post@aradgoch.org to discuss.